A SMALL GASTRIC NEUROENDOCRINE TUMOR WITH REGIONAL LYMPH NODE METASTASIS —A CASE REPORT—

Abstract

A 57-year-old woman underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy after an abnormality was detected during a mass X-ray screening program. Endoscopy revealed a submucosal tumor approximately 1 cm in diameter at the greater curvature of the gastric body. She had previously undergone surgery for carcinoma of the left breast. Endoscopic ultrasonography revealed a solid submucosal tumor, which was tentatively diagnosed as a metastatic gastric tumor from the primary breast tumor. Endoscopic submucosal dissection was performed for definitive diagnosis and treatment. Histological examination of the resected specimen revealed a gastric neuroendocrine tumor with lymph vessel invasion. Therefore, standard gastrectomy with lymph node dissection was performed. Histological examination of the resected gastric tissue revealed lymph node metastasis from the gastric neuroendocrine tumor. These findings suggest that sporadic neuroendocrine tumors with submucosal invasion have high malignant potential even if they are minute or small.